Some people say bears wander around the Russian cities begging for food, especially during winter. Of course that’s not true, bears don’t walk in the cities, but in some Russian areas one can wander around and don’t touch people.

Or if they’re hungry or diseased, they may attack. I’ve often heard that black bears are more dangerous, even though they’re smaller, because they’re more likely to have trouble finding food. A couple of years ago a friend of mine who was living up above the artic circle told me the story of a dog sledder who came across a Grizzly bear who’d prematurely emerged from hibernation. As the team went by, the bear attacked, killing all of the dogs. The dog sledder ‘bearly’ got away with his life.

These are great photos. Politics and other issues aside . . . sometimes I think I’d like to live in Russia (maybe several months out of the year) just to enjoy the vast openness and magnificent scenery.

I still think the first photo is cool. It’s as if the little bear is standing there thinking, “Why should I wade out there and try to swipe fish from the water, when my fishing partner here will reel them in for me?”

These bears were raised from cubs by that man with the white hair, who is Canadian and received permission from the Russian government biologists to live in kamchatka and take care of them after their mother was killed by poachers. So they are not exactly “wild” as they have grown up next to him. There was a show about him and his wife on the American discovery channel.

Wow! I live in the south of Russia and couple of times I met bears in the mountain forests. They ran away as the saw me, but I don’t recommend anyone to approach them as you never know when the “mishka” ate last time :))